Evangeline Summary

Evangeline had its origin in an anecdote. A South Boston man named Connolly urged Nathaniel Hawthorne to write the tale of a young woman who was exiled from Nova Scotia and searched for her lost love, only to find him a moment before his death. Hawthorne never picked up the subject, but Longfellow did. He believed that it was a wonderful tale of a woman’s fidelity; it was a perfect subject for his gentle sensibility. He also used historical sources, so the basic tale and the historical frame were given to the poet.

Evangeline begins with a brief introduction in which Longfellow evokes the “forest primeval” that remains while the hearts “beneath it” have vanished. His poem has a “woman’s devotion” as its epic theme and an Eden, “Acadie, home of the happy,” as its beginning scene. The village of Grand Pre in the land of Acadie is a “fruitful valley” filled with happy peasants from Normandy, France. Evangeline, “the pride of the village,” is a maiden of seventeen living with her aged farmer father, Benedict. Her life is a pastoral one; she helps the workers in the field and directs the household of her father.

The first scene in the poem is the visit of Basil the blacksmith and his son, Gabriel, to Benedict. Their purpose is to sign a contract of betrothal between Evangeline and Gabriel. The joyous occasion is threatened, however, by news of a British warship in the bay. Father LeBlanc believes that they are safe because they are “at peace.” Basil, however, objects, saying that in this world “might is the right of the strongest!” The old notary reconciles these positions with a tale about a maid unjustly accused of stealing a necklace of pearls; as she is on the scaffold about to be hanged, a bolt of thunder reveals the “necklace of pearls interwoven” in a magpie’s nest. The tale obviously mirrors that of Evangeline: An innocent girl is freed from an her unjust oppression, although only at the end of a long trial.

The next day is one of feasting, especially in the house of Benedict, but this is broken by the arrival of British troops. The language changes from the soft descriptions of nature to legal language: “By his Majesty’s orders . . . all your lands,...

(The entire section is 924 words.)

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